Clinical Problems in General Medicine and Surgery, 2nd Edition

Description

Clinical Problems provides a comprehensive selection of important medical and surgical scenarios. The reader is taken through 62 case histories step by step and is asked to interpret a broad range of medical data. Most of the clinical problems are accompanied by illustrations, which include cardiographs, radiographs, clinical and pathological photographs. In addition to detailed questions and answers, a commentary is provided that highlights the important issues of each case, as well as a guide to further topics of study.
The aim of any undergraduate curriculum is to produce graduates who have the knowledge and skills required to enable them to become competent members of the medical fraternity. Understandably, upon qualification these attributes will be raw and untried, but we expect them to be able to show that they possess what it is required of doctors in their first few years after graduation. What is 'required' in a clinical situation is often not obvious to the student and hence the reason for this book.
The book represents a departure from the traditional formula of systems and diseases, and an exhaustive review of each subject. Rather the authors have selected what they believe to be a number of important and, for the most part, relatively common medical and surgical scenarios and approached each from the perspective of the practicing clinician presented with a clinical problem. Whilst the book has been written primarily for undergraduates it describes clinical problems as they will be managed by recently qualified doctors.
It is not the purpose of this book to challenge or compete with standard reference material, rather it represents an important adjunct to the learning process of clinical reasoning, rather than provide the knowledge that must accompany it, although an considerable amount of factual material is to be found within its pages. Problem solving is a vital component of medical education, and while it can be taught well at the bedside and in small group tutorials, there are few books that help with this style of learning.

Reviews

"I approached this book, when asked to review it, with some scepticism. The idea of putting together the clinical experience of surgical and medical senior registrars and younger consultants was a good one, but how could it be converted into a worthwhile book, and what would this mean to those who read it?
However, the more I read the more impressed I became. The authors have chosen a series of very important acute problems which are likely to be met at some stage by all those working in hospitals. They have conveyed an excellent sense of the clinical picture, giving a reality to the information that is conveyed subsequently. The book is said to be aimed at medical students but the essential information and patterns of thought will certainly be relevant to and appropriate for all practicing doctors who have to deal with acute problems.
The authors have appreciated that probably the most difficult thing for clinical students to learn is not the facts relating to pathophysiology but the appropriate pattern of clinical thought, in which history, physical examination and the appropriate use of organ imaging and laboratory data must be combined in the differential diagnosis and integration of problems. They recognise that differential diagnosis must be related to management decisions and identify those situations where emergency management must take precedence over definitive pathophysiological diagnosis in the early stages.
The book will be of value to graduate, undergraduate and continuing medical education students if used as a trigger to stimulate appropriate patterns of clinical thought." J R Lawrence, Medical Journal of Australia
welcome departure from the traditional stodgy medical textbook using the case history approach. Of definite appeal to junior hospital medical staff but General Practitioners should find plenty here to interest them." Dr JM Sager, Medix-UK, July 2003
is the second edition of a popular revision tool aimed primarily at medical students and those in the early stages of their medical careers. I would strongly recommend this book to those approaching finals, particularly with the advent of the OSCE." Dan O'Carroll, Alexandra Hospital, Redditch, Hospital Medicine, January 2004

Key Features

• Addresses important medical and surgical topics from a problem-oriented approach.
  
• Presents relevant clinical illustrations for each case, such as ECGs, radiographs, and clinical and pathologi-cal photographs.
  
• Emphasizes empathy with the patient's situation as well as effective patient counseling.
  
• Provides commentaries from experienced clinicians, highlighting the most important issues of each case and offering suggestions on possible further areas of study.
  
• Identifies situations where emergency management must take precedence over pathophysiological diagnosis.

New to this Edition

• Features extensive updates to reflect the increasing role of minimally invasive diagnostics.
  
• Offers a new, full-color page design, with all-new photographs throughout.
  
• Provides a stronger emphasis on the worldwide web as a source of further information.

Table of Contents

• View Table of Contents

Author Information

By Peter Devitt, MD, Associate Professor, University of Adelaide; Consultant Surgeon, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, Australia; Juliet Barker, Department of Hematology, University of Minnesota, USA; Jon Mitchell, Specialist Registrar in Gastroenterology, King's College Hospital, London, UK; and Christian Hamilton-Craig, Lecturer, Department of Surgery, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, Australia

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